same-sex marriage

No matter what your perspective on marriage it has been a remarkable week.

It's certainly been a whirlwind for Kenneth Upton. He's a lawyer for Lambda Legal and lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Robicheaux case that challenged Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage. A final ruling in that case has been issued in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision that same-sex couples can marry.

Celeste Autin and Alesia LeBoeuf quietly made history Monday morning as the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage certificate in Louisiana. The license was issued in Jefferson Parish. As word got out, a frenzy of media waiting in downtown New Orleans headed across the river in search of other same-sex couples hoping to marry.

Louisiana keeps pounding its fists against what Thomas Jefferson called the “wall of separation of church and state”. For example, Louisiana is not complying with the marriage decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges.

“Marriage, as an institution between a man and a woman, was established by God. It cannot be altered by an earthly court,” Governor Bobby Jindal told the press, during a campaign stop in Iowa Friday.

This week, in the Obergefell case, the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the 14th amendment— the one with the equal protection clause — requires states to license marriages between people of the same sex or if requires states to recognize same-sex marriages conferred by another state.

Arguments were heard in New Orleans challenging Louisiana’s Defense of Marriage Act, which denies marriage to same sex couples.

Louisiana was one of three Defense of Marriage Act cases heard by the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition to Louisiana, cases for Mississippi and Texas were also heard by the three-judge panel.

Ken Upton is the Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal. That organization is representing a group of seven Louisiana same sex couples who are appealing a recent federal judge’s decision to uphold the state ban.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to take up Robicheaux v. George -- the case challenging Louisiana’s ban on the marriage of same-sex couples. It may be the case that decides the issue once and for all for the entire nation.